Vangaveeti Radhakrishna holds parleys with supporters

Vijayawada: YSRCP leader and former MLA Vangaveeti Radhakrishna held discussions with his supporters on Tuesday in view of the reports that the party may deny ticket to him to contest from Vijayawada Central Assembly constituency.

Upset with the decision of the YSRCP leadership that Malladi Vishnu may be fielded from the Central Assembly constituency, Vangaveeti Radhakrishna is now left with two options either to obey the decision of the party leadership to contest from the constituency which was allotted to him or quit the party. If he quits the party, he has to join either TDP or Jana Sena.

The Left parties have a tie-up with Jana Sena Party. In this backdrop, the CPM may field Chigurupati Babu Rao from the Central segment. He had unsuccessfully contested from the Central constituency in 2014 Assembly elections. If the CPM contests from the same segment, Vangaveeti Radhakrishna may not contest on Jana Sena ticket from there as the two parties are working closely in the state.

If Vangaveeti Radhakrishna joins TDP, followers of his father Vangaveeti Mohana Ranga, will not digest it. Mohana Ranga had a bitter rivalry with the TDP. In this backdrop, Radhakrishna held detailed discussions with his supporters on Tuesday about his future course of action.

The YSRCP has asked Radhakrishna to contest either from Vijayawada East Assembly constituency or Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency. He, earlier, won the elections from the East constituency in 2009. So, the party leaders are suggesting that Radhakrishna should be fielded from East constituency.

Radhakrishna is assessing pros and cons if he continued in the YSRCP. He asked his followers on Tuesday to wait for two more days to take a decision about his political future.

Some of his supporters burnt the party membership cards on Tuesday as a mark of protest for not granting ticket in the Assembly constituency. Meanwhile, party senior leader and official spokesperson Ambati Rambabu addressing a media conference at the state party office on Tuesday, he said the party will not do injustice to Vangaveeti family.

Party leaders should obey the decision of leadership, Ambati Rambabu said reacting to the protests by the supporters of Radhakrishna in Vijayawada on Monday.

Ambati said the party leadership had taken a decision to field Radhakrishna from either Vijayawada East segment or Machilipatnam Lok Sabha constituency. He further stated that the party has no intention to desert Radhakrishna and reminded that the family had blessings of Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

He said the party leaders have to obey the decision of the party leadership in the interest of the party. Stating that the party is doing a very big exercise to win the Assembly elections at any cost, Ambati said that Radhakrishna would understand it. He clarified that the supporters of Radhakrishna need not worry about it.